V8 Vantage (Oscar India)

V8 Vantage (Oscar India) Description

V8 Vantage V540 ‘Oscar India’

In production: October 1978 – March 1980

Chassis numbers: 12040 to 12244 with a 'V' in position 8 in the VIN

- in the same series as the V8 Oscar India saloons

With the introduction of the Oscar India AM V8, from chassis V8VOR 12040 in October 1978, the Vantage lost much its unique coachwork. Both the new integral rear flip tail and smoother bonnet was shared with the standard car. The interior also came in for special treatment with leather replacing vinyl covering and the cloth headlining. The interior was still devoid of wood trim unless the customer really insisted, in the belief that stray reflections would distract the committed driver! The first production car was V8VOR 12040, where the second ‘V’ in the chassis number denoted it as a Vantage. In all there were 44 cars built to V540 Oscar India specification, 35 RHD and 9 LHD including a single ‘cosmetic’ for the North American market. Only a single car was built with automatic transmission.

V8 Vantage V580 ‘Oscar India’

In production: March 1980 – December 1982 (GKN alloys); January 1983 – December 1985 (BBS alloys)

Chassis numbers: 12248 to 12506 with a 'V' in position 8 in the VIN

- in the same series as the V8 Oscar India saloons

From early 1980, a revised engine, identified as the V580 series, was introduced in order to have a common basic specification throughout the entire V8 range. The new cylinder head was similar to that already fitted on the Lagonda, retaining the 1.35 inch exhaust valves but with 2.1 inch inlet valves. With a new piston standardised across the range (with the exception of Federal engines), all V8s shared the same 9.3:1 compression ratio. The major difference between the regular V8 and a Vantage specification V8 was the specification of the camshafts. A further development in 1982 was the adoption of the Lucas 'Constant Energy Ignition' system which gave a better spark throughout the rev range and replaced the outdated Lucas OPUS system. Burr walnut dash and cappings whilst still optional were appearing in more and more cars. The first V580 engined Vantage was V8VOR 12248 and a total of 42 cars, 27 right hand drive and 15 left hand drive and again with a single car with automatic transmission. None are believed to have been built to cosmetic Vantage specification or sold in the USA.

V8 Vantage V580 BBS

From the introduction of the Vantage, the Pirelli CN12 255/60 VR 15 had been the favoured tyre on the GKN wheel with a 7 inch rim. However, Pirelli had difficulty maintaining consistent quality with that tyre, so in 1978 it was replaced with the ‘fashionable’ Pirelli P7 of the same size. These did not really suit the Vantage and handling was adversely affected. From May 1981, a larger P7, 275/55 VR15 was fitted to improve grip, but to stay in place on the 7 inch rim, required inflation to high pressure which again was detrimental to both ride and handling. Thus the solution from early 1983 was the adoption of 8 inch wide BBS wheels which proved very much more satisfactory, allowing the tyre to be run at a lower pressure and yet sit on the road with more effect. To accommodate the wider wheel and tyre combination, the top of the wheel arches gained a noticeably wider lip. So far as we can tell, burr walnut had become a standard feature of the Vantage. The first V580 BBS Vantage was V8VOR12353, followed by V8VOR12360.

A little later in 1984, the steering column was changed to one supplied by General Motors with tilt adjustment and revised control stalks. Also a neat, new, two-spoke steering wheel completely covered in leather replaced the previous three-spoke item.

Total V580 BBS Vantage production reached 94 cars, of which 53 were right hand drive mostly for the British market and 41 left hand drive for mainland Europe and the Middle East. Two of these were sold with automatic transmission although this was still not an official option for the car.